Freedom
by A Storm of the Stars
Summary: All I wanted was to be free. Free from all of this torture we call life. Dreams are my only escape, my only place I can forget about everything. To others life is enjoyable, to me it is horrifying. Then again, I'm not like the others. I never was. Challenge for The Clan of Clouds!


There is no true escape. There never was. We all are doomed to walk this earth forever, regardless of what you have done. It is all deception, lies told to please the ignorant. Never once did I believe them. I was not foolish like the rest. My twisted paw, the cause of all of my problems. Maybe it's what caused me to see through all of this deception. It was also my downfall.

* * *

"Hey cripple, keep up will you? We don't have all day you know." I looked up at the voice as I limped along the path. It was a border patrol today, and I was surprisingly chosen to go along. Obviously, Shadowpaw wasn't very happy about that.

"Just shut up you mouse brain." I growled under my breath, low enough so he couldn't hear. I would be dead if he heard. His insults are hardly anything compared to what he would do if he heard me. I shuddered inwardly and picked up my pace, raising my twisted paw higher off the ground so it wouldn't get in the way.

"Come on, the patrol is nearly at the border by now." He growled, roughly shoving me as he passed. I fell to the ground, unbalanced. I had to stifle a whimper of pain as I landed on my twisted paw. Any signs of weakness and he would just go brag on about how strong he is and how I am nothing compared to him. I shoved myself up onto three paws and quickly limped after him, lagging behind a few tail lengths. He already acts as if he was leader, and if I were to walk besides him he would take it as a challenge.

"I see them up ahead." I say in a happy voice, hoping it didn't seem too forced. I wanted to make myself seem useful and not just some injured cat you had to drag along.

"Of course you do. Everybody could have seen that by now." Shadowpaw growled. He ran up ahead to meet with the border patrol. As he neared them he started speaking in a rather loud voice. _Probably so he knows I will hear him. _"Sorry about the wait, but cripple over here can't move fast to save her life." The rest of the patrol let out small laughs at this, clearly enjoying themselves. I glared at the ground, continuing forward until I was next to them. Frostsong, one of the cats on the patrol, raised her head and looked at the forest in front of her.

"I smell a CloudClan patrol. They are nearby, so be careful where you go." The rest of the patrol nodded. I looked up in shock. _We are that close to the border? I guess they don't call it a border patrol for nothing. _Sure enough, a CloudClan patrol appeared out of the trees. They padded towards the scent line, nearly stepping on it. One of them began sniffing along their side of the border.

"What, are you looking for a fight being that close to the border?" Shadowpaw asked, a slight growl in his voice. The cat that was sniffing the ground a second ago looked up.

"No, just making sure you didn't cross over. StormClan can't be trusted these days with anything." One of the other CloudClan warriors looked over, his eyes scanned the patrol, as if sizing us up. Then his eyes rested on me. Cold, cruel eyes. I flinched back from his intense stare, stumbling a little. Much to my relief, he looked back at Frostsong.

"Not as if you would put up much of a fight anyway. What, is StormClan so desperate for warriors that now you are bringing in disabled cats for patrols? Next thing you know, StormClan will have elders running patrols." The rest of the patrol laughed at this. My relief was quickly replaced with anger. I opened my mouth for a stinging retort, but Shadowpaw spoke up instead.

"I'll have you know, we didn't want her on our patrol either. She can't hunt, she can't fight, she is as good as useless. I don't even know why Rainstar insists on keeping her." He growled. Much to my dismay, the whole StormClan patrol nodded their heads in agreement. Hurt welled up inside me. _I'm not as useless as he says, right?_

"Why don't you just give her to the foxes or badgers? At least she will have a use there." Everybody laughed at this, including my Clan's patrol. I couldn't take it anymore. I spun around, tears beginning to form in my eyes.

"I hate you, all of you!" I yelled. I dashed off into the forest, running as fast as my paw would allow me. I ignored the pain, it just seemed to push me to go even further. I knew exactly where I was going. _You all are so cruel to me, and for what? Just because I'm different? _I soon found my destination. The river.

It was where I would always go to calm myself. I stopped and looked at the river. A strong current was running through it, distorting my image, which was normally crisp and clear on the surface, but not today. The sun's strong light glinted off of the surface, giving the water a slight glimmer to it as it rushed along. I closed my eyes, imagining the taunting faces on my Clanmates. I knew what had to be done. "Please, if there is anybody out there... please forgive me." I took one last shaky breath, and jumped.

**This was rather fun to write. What do you think of it? Challenge for The Clan of Clouds, an amazing forum I happen to be a part of. Like these challenges? You may as well look forward to more, as I have a whole handful more I'm planning on working on. Anyways, until next time!  
**

**~Blizzard**


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